New Salvation Army’s directors face food pantry shortage

ASHEBORO — Shelves are pretty bare at the Salvation Army’s food pantry. New directors, Lts. Kevin and Wendy Justice, are working to restock them with canned and other non-perishable food items. Right after the Justices arrived to take their new position in June, they served nearly 660 families with food.

Last week, they served 125 families and have had to go to the store and buy food to have some on the shelves.

“Food goes fast,” said Kevin.

Food Lion and Lowes Foods provide bread, pastry and other items, but not enough to fill the pantry.

“We’re seeing across the board, not just here, that the middle class is moving lower and that the lower class of people are sliding into poverty,” he said. “Some people have lived a better life and are now having to ask for help for the first time.”

The Justices moved to Asheboro from Smithfield, where they had a similar set-up with a church, food pantry and a community assistance program.

They replaced Captains Curtis and Sara Kratz who were transferred from Asheboro to Kinston in June.

Kevin and Wendy grew up “in the Army,” as they say.

Kevin’s great-grandmother lived in the N.C. mountains and got involved with the Salvation Army church. Her daughter, Kevin’s mother, became a Salvation Army pastor in Durham and worked with the Home and Health Hospital. She was later transferred back to Haywood County.

Kevin’s parents were share-croppers and rotated living in North Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky, harvesting crops.

“I learned to move a lot at a young age,” he said. But through it all, he was raised in the Salvation Army church. When he was 18 years old, he left the Salvation Army church for three years, but then returned to his roots.

“I never had a thought in my mind that God would move me towards ministry. I grew up on a farm and was born in a dairy barn. My intention was to be a game warden,” he explained.

After his high school graduation, Kevin went into welding for a short time, but eventually secured employment with the Salvation Army. Along the way, he met his future bride, Wendy.

They were married 15 years ago in a Salvation Army thrift store in Kentucky.

Her roots are also in the Salvation Army.

When she was 12 years old, her parents and she attended a Salvation Army youth conference. She said that is where they acknowledged their calling to the Salvation Army.

Together, Lt. Kevin and Lt. Wendy operate the Salvation Army of Asheboro. The agency serves Randolph, Montgomery and Richmond counties.

Once located on Sunset Avenue, the Salvation Army “no longer operates that facility, but many think we do,” Kevin said. “We have the Salvation Army Family Store and the corporate office, church and community services program, which includes the food bank at 345 N. Church St.”

Kevin acknowledged there has been some discussion about consolidating all of their programs into one location, but that’s down the road.